


Not Offered Lightly

by nutmeg223



Series: Homefires in the Stars [1]
Category: Firefly
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bratting, Discipline, Emotional Baggage, M/M, Multi, Spanking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-16
Updated: 2016-05-16
Packaged: 2018-06-08 21:50:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6874993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nutmeg223/pseuds/nutmeg223
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It is a truth,  universally acknowledged,  that Simon Tam is asking for it.</p><p>Or, Netflix bumped Firefly up in my queue,  and I remembered Simon's delightful bratting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not Offered Lightly

Mal sipped at his tea and listened to the muffled commotion in the corridor. He heard Simon's clipped tones, mostly aggrieved, and Jayne's answering gruffness. Something in the infirmary banged, and Jayne clomped into the kitchen and sat, obviously steaming.

"That boy," Jayne growled. "Is askin' for a lickin'."

"Told you to stay outta his way." Mal commented. "And keep your hands off."

"Rattling at the bars." River murmured, making both men jump; they hadn't noticed her come in.

"Weren't gonna touch him 'less he keeps on. An' he keeps findin' me. I ain't seekin' him out."

"Moods weren't allowed." River continued, as if Jayne hadn't answered the captain. "Gentlemen don't have them. No time, either. He's having all of them now."

"What?" Mal turned to the girl.

River gave them a withering and completely lucid glare. It appeared she was cycling through their reality for the moment.

"Feelings," she explained slowly. "Weren't allowed because Simon is a boy. He feels safe here, safe enough to push against the rules. He doesn't realize how twisted up and scared he is inside. The doctor hides the boy. Not so big as he thinks he is."

Mal and Jayne stared; lucid conversations were more common with River post-Early, but they were still a rarity. Mal had a feeling that River just liked being mysterious and damn confusing. She sighed at them.

"Simon doesn't need soft from you; he needs uncompromising, but gentle. He needs immovable objects, and he's picked you. Both of you. Needs to be your boy. Yours to spoil and spank and fu-"

Mal clapped a hand over her mouth. It seemed easiest.

"You finish that one, xiao mei mei, and we'll be havin' a problem."

River nodded, eyes solemn, and Mal removed his hand.

"Needs to belong, and needs to be loved. And he needs a firm hand." Having said her piece, River rose to go flitting off into the ship. "Three is a good number…better than two!"

The last came floating back at them from the corridor. Mal and Jayne avoided each other's eyes. How River knew the things she knew…Mal suspected good hearing, insomnia, and a habit of walking very quietly helped out the other abilities.

"I'll just go along and have a word with the doc. See if we can't find out what his problem is." Mal set his mug in the sink, poured a fresh mug of tea, and grabbed a ration bar. Carrying the mug, he slipped the bar into his pocket and stopped for a quick, rough kiss from Jayne before bearding the dragon in his lair.

He found Simon up to his eyeballs in research, as usual.

"I'm busy." Simon snapped without looking around.

"Didn't see you at lunch." Mal commented calmly.

"I said I'm busy." Simon rubbed a hand over his face. "In polite society that means go away."

"Ain't ever been one for polite society." Mal crossed the room and hitched his hip on the desk, knocking a pile of papers askew. "And you can't afford to lose any more weight, doc. Won't have you workin' yourself into the ground."

Mal set the tea and the ration bar next to the boy.

"Do you ever listen to people?" Simon all but growled.

"Listenin' to you givin' me a mouthful a sass right now. Can't say as I appreciate it."

"Sass?" Simon spluttered. "I am not a child, Captain."

"Now, I wouldn't say child that generic-like. I'd say I'm lookin' at a right surly little boy." Mal bracketed Simon with a hand on either side of the boy and leaned forward to speak into his ear. "And I don't rightly care for it. Fair warning, boy, you give me a mouthful of disrespect or disobey me, or I get complaints from anyone about your attitude, an' you'll be gettin' a lickin'. Dong ma? No more punchin'; too much danger of hurtin' you."

"So I'll be beaten for having an opinion?" Simon cringed at his own tone: pure, Core-bred snot.

Mal snorted; boy didn't know when to quit.

"That's something to find out, now isn't it? An' you'll be findin' out sooner than later you keep on like this. Work out your problems or I'll work 'em out for you."

Mal pushed off the desk and sauntered out. He had a feeling he'd be tanning the boy's backside sooner than later.

 

*****

 

Simon glared at the wall and tried not to shift or sigh. Or fidget in a remotely noticeable manner. He wasn't...he could feel the captain's gaze boring into the back of his neck as he stood and stared at a blank expanse of wall, supposedly thinking about his behavior. The captain and Jayne had been downright weird and dictatorial for the past few weeks...well, weirder and MORE dictatorial than usual. He'd been dragged to meals and had had very pointed suggestions (or orders, from Jayne, who wasn't so good at subtle) about going to bed on time lobbed at him. He started a little at the captain's pointed throat-clearing. Simon felt himself flush; he was supposed to be considering why 'stay on the ship' meant 'stay on the ship' and not 'go sit by the river'.

"Captain, this - " Simon tried.

"Did I say I wanted to hear you?" Mal looked up from his book.

"No sir." Simon gritted it out. "I'm not a child, you realize."

"Hmm," Mal suppressed a smile. "Then you best be closin' that mouth and thinkin' on why you need to follow orders."

He ignored Simon's testy little protest at that.

Simon fisted his hands by his sides and breathed slowly through his nose. Visualising himself dismembering the infuriating man helped keep his temper, but only due to his excellent self-control.

"And you can think on this, too, boy. You don't take care of yourself, not proper-like. You take care of River, an' you take care of all of us, but you don't take the same care with yourself. You don't eat near enough an' you're losin' more weight you can't afford to. You're not sleepin' near enough, either, although that mostly ain't your fault. You near enough don't take any time for yourself. We're puttin' a stop to it, me an' Jayne. We're puttin' our feet down, hard, boy. Now, you can take just the care and the watchin', or you can have more. We want...we've been lookin' for a boy, and you're him. You could be ours, boy, ours to spoil and spank and fuck. So you think real hard on what you want, and you tell me when you're done. Don't have to be right now, or even today, so you can spend a few minutes more havin' your time out."

Simon could hardly hear over the roaring in his ears. What he'd longed for, for so long, in the dark of the night when he could admit to those shameful wants, could be his. He took a few deep breaths, trying to calm his whirling thoughts. His stomach clenched as he heard the captain move from chair to bunk.

"Come on over here, Simon."

"We don't have to - " Simon shifted restlessly, suddenly nervous.

"Yeah, we do, boy. You earned yourself a lickin', and that's what you're gonna get. Dong ma?"

"Yessir," Simon swallowed hard.

"So you come on over here, now."

Simon responded to the firm tone. In two steps, he stood by the captain's knee. He looked down, not sure what to expect. Mal said no punching...but what? Mal's hands at his fly sent him jerking back in surprise. He couldn't help but yelp and still in response to the sharp smack Mal laid on his thigh.

"I ain't in the habit of spankin' pants, boy." Mal yanked Simon's pants and underwear straight down to his knees before turning the boy over his thigh. He patted Simon's pretty backside fondly.

"You're gonna be spanked, boy, and spanked hard." He began. "When I tell you to stay on the ship, I mean it. I ain't talkin' just to hear myself. So now you get your bottom spanked, and you get to stay in while everyone else goes out."

"I just - " Simon shut his mouth with a snap, hoping to forestall another outburst.

"No boy, you tell me. You just what?" Mal patted again, more firmly.

"I just wanted ten minutes where no one needed me." The shame of such selfishness had Simon's face flushing.

"And if you'd just told me that, I woulda made sure you got your time. Anyone deserves a little time left in peace, it's you."

Simon had been working too hard the past few months. Their jobs had mostly run smooth, but they'd loaned him out a few times, way out on the Rim where he wouldn't be noticed. He'd spent a week each time, for decent pay, workin' himself into the ground doctorin' folk. Then there'd been The Flu Incident. They'd spent three months passin' some god-awful virus back and forth before Simon's quarantine and cleanin' procedures worked. And then the poor boy'd come down with it, hard. Stood up from dinner one night and passed clean out. But all that didn't take away from the disobedience.

"Thought you'd say no." Simon murmured.

"'Stead you got yourself a boatload of trouble. You understand why we're doin' this?"

"Yessir." Simon muttered, kicking at the floor a little testily.

"You obey me, boy. That's what this is about." Mal brought his hand down in a resounding smack.

Quickly, he settled into a pace he could keep up for a while. He wanted to send a strong message to the boy, one he'd feel every time he sat for a good long time. It didn't take long for Mal to set Simon's pale bottom blushing pink and likely stinging mightily. As the pink shaded darker, he noticed Simon shifting his hips and pressing his toes against the floor. Likely the boy hadn't been spanked in some time, if ever, so he more'n likely felt pretty tender. 'Course, by the time Mal finished, he'd be a damn sight more than tender.

He started in on another circuit of the fullest part of Simon's bottom and watched as the boy gave a helpless kick against the sting before trying to school his body back to mostly still again.

"Now, I expect the boy I'm spankin' to kick an' wiggle an' holler. I don't expect still an' I don't expect quiet." Mal smacked harder for a spell, setting the boy to drumming his toes against the floor. He raised his knee a bit and targeted where Simon sat.

"OW!" Simon hollered. "OW! OW! OW!"

"That's better," Mal commented as he spanked steadily. "Your kickin' an' wigglin' an' hollerin' don't bother me none. You just let it all out, now."

"No more! Please! No more!" Simon begged, panicking as the pressure of impending tears rose in his chest. "Stop! I said stop!"

"See, now that's not for you to decide. I decide when you've been spanked enough, boy."

Simon couldn't keep still. Once he started kicking and wiggling and pleading, he couldn't stop. He squirmed and kicked against the deep, flaming burn Mal spanked into his backside. The first tears slipped down his cheeks, and with them went his resolve. He let the waiting sobs surface, buried his face in his arms, and wept. He felt cracked open and taken down, no longer the self-assured doctor, but a sad and very sorry boy. He wailed at each fresh smack, feeling the fear and anger that fueled him for months slip away as if draining an overlooked infection. He collapsed over Mal's lap and sobbed, kicking helplessly at the burning spanks that would never stop falling.

"Sorry!" he sobbed out. "M'sorry!"

Mal laid down a couple dozen more hard smacks before he stopped. The boy's ass glowed like a beacon, hot and dark red. He rubbed a hand up under Simons shirt and patted gently. After a few moments, Simon wiggled down to his knees and buried his face in Mal's thigh. Mal brushed his fingers through Simon's soft hair, cupping the back of the boy's head.

Simon couldn't stop sobbing. Months, years of repressed emotion spilled out with no input from him. He simply had to ride the wave. It felt like hours of weeping before the tears slowed. Eventually, he quieted and rested against Mal.

"Feelin' better?" Mal asked gently.

Simon nodded and sniffled. He felt wrung out and empty...and safe. Blessedly, finally safe.

"I want it." Simon blurted out, voice rough from weeping, before he could chicken out.

"Hmm? Want what?" Mal needed to hear the words.

"I want what you said. All of it. I want to be your boy. Yours and Jayne's." Simon let the confession tumble out in a rush.

"Jayne!" Mal called. "You can come down!"

Simon heard the bunk hatch open, and Jayne clambered down. He heard Jayne's breath catch and realized that he'd kicked his pants right off. He tugged the tail of his shirt down and blushed furiously.

"We got ourselves a boy?" Jayne asked, sounding close to reverent, like Simon was a fancy new gun.

"We surely do." Mal brushed a hand through Simon's hair again.

"Come on up here, boy." Jayne ordered gently, holding out a hand to Simon.

Simon took his hand and rose shakily, let himself be pulled into Jayne's arms. Were those Jayne's big, work-roughened hands stroking gently down his back? He'd had no idea the big merc could even be so gentle. Simon let his arms go around the man and held him too, rubbing his cheek against the soft cotton of Jayne's shirt. Jayne rubbed his back, occasionally reaching down to cup his still-blazing bottom.

"Let's get you more comfortable," Jayne rumbled in his ear.

Simon nodded, and let Jayne pull both shirt and undershirt off. He blushed a bit at being naked before the two men. Jayne turned him back to Mal's bunk, and he started a little; Mal had already made himself comfortable. Jayne helped him lay on his side, snugged close to Mal, and then settled behind him. It was a tight fit, but they managed. Simon relaxed into being held. Despite his quite frankly blazing backside, he felt safe and well-cared-for, bracketed by the two bigger men.


End file.
